Do You Remember: Lagniappe Too, fun time place, gone but not forgotten

Published 10:00 am Sunday, April 11, 2021

DO YOU REMEMBER:  

Lagniappe Too, fun time place gone but not forgotten 

“It was a fun time place,” said Al Landry. 

Yes Al, it certainly was. Lagniappe Too, a lovely little café run by Al and Elaine Landry closed in July of 2011, but that doesn’t mean it is forgotten. “We tried to close it months before,” said Al, “but the customers wailed like banshees and we had to stay open.”  When they finally did decide to close, it was just because the couple was in their 80s, ready to retire. 25 years of fun, great food, laughter, music. They were definitely doing something right. 

Al and Elaine bought the business in 1986 from Susan and Tom Spath. “Susan’s husband Tom got transferred to New Orleans, and Susan and her mother were running the restaurant. They made the decision to go with her husband, and they needed to sell the business,” said Landry.  

“Robert and Carolyn Lewald were there every morning for breakfast, as were Kerry Jackson and I. The Lewalds suggested we buy the restaurant and run it. They offered to help, even lent us a cash register.” Thus Lagniappe Too was birthed.  

Anyone who frequented the café was enthralled. The atmosphere was equal parts homey and sophisticated, dotted with Al’s colorful, witty paintings, the company was unequalled, and the food. The food. Those little crostini that made it to the table with every bowl of gumbo, every salad. Those alone were worth the price of admission. 

Elaine was an inventive cook, creating masterpieces from recipes she’d find and adapt. “Elaine always said, ‘If you can read you can cook’. I think maybe Julia Child said it first, but Elaine wholeheartedly adopted it,” said Landry. “Her soups and gumbos were spectacular. And we had good sandwiches, good salads. That’s all you need.” 

Indeed, the food is the basis of quite a few folks’ best memories of Lagniappe Too. Ealine’s gumbo was mentioned quite a few times in comments on Facebook about the restaurant. Kimberly Breaux said it was the bet she’s ever eaten, while Jackie Mixon mentioned the corn and crab bisque, Nanette DeRouen Kibbe the stuffed mirliton and several desserts, most notably the Mexican Chocolate Cake and Hummingbird Cake. 

Kathy Hobbs would have liked to see the Landrys write a cookbook. Youngest son James said he tried to encourage his mother to do that very thing, but after Lagniappe the couple wanted relax and rest in their retirement years. Elaine passed away in 2017, and the cookbook never got written. “I miss her terribly,” James says, “But she gave me some excellent cooking skills.” 

Friday nights were special nights at Lagniappe. “At first, we were open both Friday and Saturday nights, but we decided it was too much,” said Landry.  

Well-known regulars Ernest and Deanna Freyou would go to 4 o’clock Mass at St. Peter’s and then directly to Lagniappe Too for cocktail hour. Their friends would join them at the ‘Ernest Freyou Table’ and spend a few hours dining and visiting.  

The Landrys just seemed to know instinctively how to entertain. Elaine would lord over the kitchen, and Al would float about the dining room, telling a joke here, a story there, just making everyone feel comfortable and jovial.  

Even employees loved the Landrys and Lagniappe Too. Mary Beth Bourgeois said that it was her favorite job, and related a Friday night story: “Ms. Elaine was in the kitchen, very involved with frosting a cake, or something. It was starting to get really busy, as it was the dinner hour. As the tickets piled up around the wheel, the waitresses were starting to panic. ‘Ms. Elaine’, we said, ‘don’t you need to start these orders?’ Me. Elaine as cool as a cucumber, kept doing what she was doing. She said, ‘Let them have another drink!’”  

Lagniappe Too attracted not only New Iberians, but diners from all over the world. “We had the Minister of Finance from Paris in the restaurant. We had customers from all over, even as far away as China. They always left such lovely comments in the guest book,” said Al Landry. 

We miss our fun time place, but as long as we remember it, Lagniappe Too will never be gone. But we sure could use a piece of Elaine’s Mango Cake. Or one or two crostini.  

Top food memories from Lagniappe Too 

Gumbo 

Corn and Crab Bisque 

The salad dressing with the paprika in it 

Mango Cake 

Stuffed Mirliton 

Mexican Chocolate Cake 

Chicken Salad

Have a favorite Lagniappe Too memory? Leave it in the comments below!